


A New Life

by Vegorott



Series: A Lifetime [2]
Category: jacksepticeye, markiplier - Fandom, youtube - Fandom
Genre: (not done by Illinois or Yancy), M/M, Manipulation, Sequel, discovering deeper feelings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:35:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24669994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vegorott/pseuds/Vegorott
Summary: The sequel to A Lifetime; Yancy and Illinois thought it was hard enough to deal with their lives and feelings as it is, but when they are taken away by a creature not of their world, everything they knew is turned upside down as their newfound relationship is challenged
Relationships: Bingle, Danti, Trickshot - Relationship, bimdere, dapperstache, schneeplier, yanois
Series: A Lifetime [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1770043
Comments: 11
Kudos: 60





	1. The Manor

Everything was spinning, their vision blurry and a sharp ringing prevented them from hearing. Yancy was the first one to be able to see clearly and Illinois was the first to hear. 

“They will need a moment.” Illinois heard someone say and Yancy saw the man from the desert. He was standing with a brightly colored dressed man, his hair a blinding pink. 

“Illy?” Yancy stumbled the very short distance between himself and Illinois and grabbed his arm. They both used each other to stay standing as they finally were able to fully hear and see with no pressure or pain. 

“You could have been easier on them.” The colorful man chuckled. 

“I tried but they resisted.” The man from the desert scoffed.

“Do you really blame them?” 

“What’s going on!?” Illinois demanded. 

“Where are we!?” Yancy added. 

“Who are you!?” Illinois kept the questions going.

“Why-”

“Alright, alright, enough.” The man from the desert held his hands up. “Wilford, explain while I go get Edward to properly check them.” The man walked out of what Yancy and Illinois soon saw was a living room-like room. Two couches, a love seat, and a few smaller chairs surrounded them and a quick glance behind them showed was a large TV. 

“Feel free to sit down if you’re still dizzy.” The man, Wilford, offered. His voice was thick with a strange slur and gave off a feeling of joyful energy but something told them he wasn’t someone to mess with. “It’s okay, we’re not here to hurt you and I think that fellow really needs to sit.” Wilford gestured at Yancy, whose face had gone pale. 

“Hey, hey, are you okay?” Illinois guided Yancy to sit on the closest couch. 

“I’m...I’m gonna...I’m gonna hurl.” Yancy hugged his stomach. 

“Oh! Not on that couch!” Wilford was suddenly gone and he appeared closer to the two, a bucket in his hand and he managed to get it into Illinois’ hands right before Yancy vomited into it. “That’s a new reaction.” Wilford clicked his tongue, perking up when the man returned with another. “He’s puking,” Wilford stated. 

“Puking? The worse should just be mild nausea.” The other man wore what Illinois recognized as a lab coat. 

“Tell that to the bucket, Edward.” Wilford gestured with a thumb. Edward went over to Illinois and Yancy, crouching down so that he had to look up at them. 

“Is it just a nauseous feeling or do you feel anything else?” Edward asked Yancy, who just stared at him and shook his head. “I need you to talk to me, I’m just a doctor, I’m here to help.” 

“Just nauseous,” Yancy whispered.

“What’s going on?” Illinois asked, rubbing circles into Yancy’s back. 

“Dark’s teleportation of others cam sometimes mess with...oh how do I word this? Your bodies aren’t used to that so it’s common for it to react until it’s adjusted.” 

“Dark?” Illinois glanced at the man from the desert. “You’re called Dark?” 

“That’s my name,” Dark said in a flat tone. 

“What the hell are you?” 

“That’s something that’ll take a lot more explanation than a single sitting can take.” Dark turned to Wilford. “After Edward is done with them, show them to their rooms and if they are up to it, give them a tour of the Manor. I have instructed the others to remain in their rooms until the news ones have settled for the night.” Dark walked out of the room without missing a beat. 

“Why are we here?” Illinois asked Edward. 

“I can’t say.” Edward was looking over Yancy’s and Illinois’ bodies. “I’m just here to check on you two. Make sure there aren’t any injuries or anything like that.” Yancy spat into the bucket and straightened up. 

“We’re fine.” Yancy almost growled. 

“If you start feeling nauseous again, come find me. I’m usually in my office and Wilford will show you where that’s at.” Edward stood back up. “They’re all set.” Edward gestured towards the bucket. “I can take care of that.” Yancy and Illinois handed the bucket to Edward and he left the room as well. 

“So...ready for a tour?” Wilford asked, flashing a smile. 

“A tour of what?” Illinois asked as he and Yancy got to their feet; the nausea mostly gone now. 

“Of our lovely Manor, of course.” Wilford chuckled. “You’ll be staying here from now on.” 

“Why-” Yancy stopped himself, he was starting to get that those kinds of questions weren’t going to be answered when they asked. “How many people are here?” He asked, the two following Wilford when he started walking. 

“Let me see…” Wilford counted with his fingers. “There are ten of us here and then there are seven more that live in a different place.” 

“That’s a lot of people.” Yancy made a face as they entered what looked like a kitchen.

“It’ll be easy getting to know all of them, we’re all such characters.” Wilford started laughing at that. “As you can see, this is our kitchen.” Wilford switched his tone and gestured widely as he spoke. “You’re free to use whatever is in here unless it has a name on it and if there is anything specific you want there’s a board on the fridge you can use to write that down. Also, write down if we’re almost out of something.” 

“A grocery list, basically,” Illinois said, his hands going to his hips while Yancy crossed his arms. 

“That’s a good way to put it.” Wilford spun on his heel and lead them out of the kitchen and there was a split that became two different hallways. “The left is the rooms and ‘offices’ and the right is where the fun stuff is.” 

“The fun stuff?” Yancy asked. 

“We have a pool, tennis court, basketball court, football, soccer, any sport you can think of really but most of that is outside and we also have a nice gym.” Wilford chuckled when Yancy perked up at that. “It’s on the bottom floor so it’s nice and cool in there.” 

“Bottom floor? How big is this place?” Illinois asked. 

“We have an elevator.” Wilford tapped at his lip with a finger. “It’s called a Manor for a reason.” He added with a chuckle. “Let me show you the room hallway first.” Wilford went down the left hallway with Yancy and Illinois. “Everything is labeled so you don’t have to worry about memorizing which room is which.” Wilford pointed at the name tags on the doors. “There’s Edward’s.” Wilford turned and saw hat Yancy and Illinois had stopped at a set of doors. 

“Google?” Yancy asked.

“Bing’s next to it.” Illinois titled his head. “Are those nicknames?” 

“They’ll explain themselves when you meet them.” Wilford tapped Yancy and Illinois on the shoulders and guided them to keep going. “There’s a couple of empty ones in case we have company or more new people,” Wilford said, skipping ahead of them and facing the two. “These rooms right here are yours.” Wilford held a hand next to his mouth and leaned over. “We can always make it one room if you want.” He winked and was laughing once more. “Oh!” Wilford suddenly reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone. “Ah, I’m being summoned. Feel free to keep looking around and Dark’s place is at the end of the hall so I’d avoid that if I was you.” Wilford shimmied and was gone in a blink. 

“Do yous have any idea about what just happened?” Yancy asked Illinois. 

“I’m just as lost as you are.” Illinois sighed. 


	2. Panic

Yancy stepped out of his ‘room’ with the rest of its bedding and was heading back to Illinois’ ‘room’. They had spent the rest of that day in the room, watching the TV that was in there and just refusing to accept what was happening around them. They had no appetite and no desire to explore just yet. They were tired and yet couldn’t sleep. Yancy suggested making basically a cocoon and maybe that would help them sleep. Yancy was so used to sharing a sleeping spot with Illinois because of the cave that sharing a bed with him didn’t phase him at all. 

“You having a sleepover?” 

“I-I-” Yancy found himself sputtering when a shirtless Wilford was now standing in front of him. He was wearing only a pair of loose-fitting sweatpants that were very low on his hips and got even lower when he placed a hand on them. 

“Earth to Yancy.” Wilford snapped his fingers and laughed when Yancy yelped and tightened his hold on the blankets. “You’re blushing, how adorable.” 

“I’m not.” Yancy weakly protested.

“Not blushing or not adorable?” 

“Both.” 

“Well...” Wilford held out the word and walked closer to Yancy. “You’re wrong on both accounts.” 

“U-Uh-” Yancy wasn’t used to this kind of attention, the smirk, the closeness. It was hard handling it from Illinois let alone from another person. 

“Fun fact, the walls for the bedrooms are soundproof.” Wilford started to pass by Yancy. “So have fun~” He added with a chuckle and a quick slap to Yancy’s rear. Yancy yelped again, louder this time, and he turned when he heard Wilford laughing. “Aw, my little sugarplum.” Wilford went up to a smaller man that was standing at Wilford’s bedroom door. He was wearing only an oversized shirt that barely covered his lower half and he had a mustache that was fairly similar to Wilford’s. “You know you’re the only one for me.” Wilford placed his hands on the man’s waist and pulled him into a kiss. Yancy felt his face burning when it started becoming a lot more than just a kiss and didn’t hear the door behind him open up. Wilford scooped up the smaller man and carried him into the room, shutting the door. 

“Oh.” Yancy’s lips when into a flat line when he heard Illinois. 

“How long yous been there?” Yancy asked, not yet ready to face him. 

“Long enough to see Wilford having some fun.” Illinois chuckled. 

“I wish I hadn’t seen it.” Yancy hid his face into the blankets and made his way into Illinois’ room. 

“Now we know he’s taken and he seems like a really friendly guy.” Illinois closed the door and chuckled when he saw that Yancy had flopped himself down on the bed and was hiding inside of the blankets. 

“Very friendly,” Yancy said, his voice muffled. Illinois went to the bed and sat next to Yancy, moving the blankets so he could see his face.

“So, what do you want to watch next?” Illinois asked.

“I don’t know.” 

“What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know.” 

“We can make out like they were.” Illinois leaned over Yancy, expecting either for Yancy to sputter or agree. 

“We can’t.” Yancy rolled off of the bed.

“We can’t?” Illinois was not expecting that. 

“Don’t you feel like yous being watched?” Yancy looked around the room. Four tan colored walls, a nice large bed, a large TV hanging on the wall in front of it. There was also a small bathroom attached to the room, a wall closet, a dresser, and a desk. There was so much space, so many things and it all felt like it was trying to choke Yancy. 

“I haven’t seen any cameras.” Illinois got off of the bed as well. 

“Not like that. Like, I feel like we don’t belong here. Something’s wrong. Why are we here?” Yancy could feel his chest tightening. 

“I’m hoping they’ll tell us tomorrow since Dark mentioned ‘waiting till we’re settled’.” Illinois was looking around the room as well. 

“I just want to know why and where. Where are we? How far away did he take us?” Yancy found that breathing was getting harder and harder to do. 

“We’ll-Yanc?” Illinois saw that Yancy was hugging himself. “Hey, hey, hey.” Illinois went to Yancy but didn’t touch him. Illinois wasn’t sure what was happening but Yancy looked like he was panicking and he knew to be careful when it comes to that, man or beast.

“Why-Why can’t I breathe?” Yancy asked, blinking, and feeling tears starting to form in his eyes. 

“I’m going to put my arms on you, okay?” Illinois said.

“Y-Yeah.” Yancy looked at his hands and saw that they were shaking. He felt Illinois wrap his arms around him and Yancy leaned against him, his legs getting weaker and he didn’t want to stand anymore. 

“Easy, easy…” Illinois caught Yancy when his legs buckled. “I got you.” Illinois helped Yancy get to the ground. 

“Wh-What’s...ha-happening.” Yancy stuttered. He didn’t understand why talking was now difficult too. 

“I’m not sure. I think I need to get Edward.”

“No!” Yancy grabbed onto Illinois and held him tight. “Don’t go, don’t go, please.” 

“I won’t go. I’m right here. I won’t go.” 

“G-Good.” Illinois could feel Yancy trembling. What was wrong with Yancy? That sudden fear and panic seemed to come out of nowhere. Like he was attacked...with...it

“I’m an idiot,” Illinois muttered to himself. His own worry made him forget about the obvious “Yanc. Yanc I need you to focus on your breathing, okay? I need you to try to get a few deep breathes in.” 

“I-I-” Yancy stopped when Illinois softly hushed him. 

“It’s okay, just breathe. You’re going to be fine. I promise. Just breathe, okay? Breathe with me.” Illinois took in a deep breath and he held it until he heard Yancy do the same. Illinois breathed out slowly, hearing that Yancy was following suit. He inhaled again, paused and exhaled. Inhale. Pause. Exhale. 

“What the hell?” Yancy asked. He could feel his chest being sore and how his face ached with a need to just rest. 

“I’ll explain later, let’s just get to bed.” Illinois helped Yancy to his feet and walked him to the bed, sitting him on the edge of the mattress. “I’m going to get you some water,” Illinois said before stepping away. 

“That was a moment,” Yancy said when Illinois came back.

“A moment?” Illinois gave Yancy a cup of water. 

“Tiny has ‘em.” Yancy took a long gulp, not realizing how thirsty he was till just them. “She usually just gets really quiet and Jimmy says she just needs a moment and she’ll be okay.” 

“And you will be too.” Illinois took the now empty cup. 

“And we thought we weren’t going to sleep tonight.” Yancy weakly laughed and he laid down. 

Illinois placed the cup down and he found himself watching Yancy for a bit. Yancy had closed his eyes the moment his head hit the pillow. Yancy looked like he had already fallen asleep but when he reached an arm out towards Illinois, it was clear what he wanted before fully sleeping. Illinois smiled and went to the other side of the bed, taking off his hat before laying down as well. 

“Night, Yancy,” Illinois said, chuckling when Yancy moved so that he could curl up against Illinois’. They had been sleeping like that for a while and it wasn’t shocking that Yancy would do that without a second thought. 

“Night.” Yancy nuzzled his head into Illinois’ chest, getting nice and comfy. 


	3. Unexpected Argument

“They have a coffee called ‘raspberry chocolate lava cake’,” Illinois said, pulling down different flavors of K-cups for the Keurig machine. “It’s just flavored beans, so you’d have to put creamer in it.” 

“Why does it have to be so fancy?” Yancy asked with a scoff. “What’s wrong with just a simple brew?” 

“Mocha Macchiato.” Illinois read off the label of the other box, looking as Yancy and grinning when he saw Yancy perk up at that name. “No creamer needed.” 

“I might...give it a try,” Yancy muttered and Illinois chuckled at that. 

“Good morning, you two.” Wilford laughed as he came into the kitchen, wearing on the sweatpants Yancy had seen him in last night. 

“Do yous never wear clothes?” Yancy asked with a huff. 

“He’s usually naked in the mornings,” Dark stated as he came into the kitchen with a mug in his hand. “He’s being fairly modest.” Dark went to the stovetop where a kettle was sitting, pouting the steaming water into his mug. 

“So, Illinois, my boy.” Wilford slid over to where Illinois was with a cheeky grin. “Did you see my handprint on your boy?” 

“Did I see what on who?” Illinois raised a brow. 

“I gave Yancy a good ol’ football greeting.” Wilford made a gesture with his hand. 

“A football greetin’? You slapped my ass.” Yancy scoffed. 

“You slapped his ass?” Illinois’s friendly eyes became hard with a glare. 

“Did neither of you play football as a kid?” Wilford asked, unaffected by the sudden hostility. 

“I climbed trees,” Illinois stated.

“I couldn’t afford it,” Yancy added. 

“Oh.” Wilford popped his lips and looked at Dark, who was just stirring some sugar into his tea. “I’m sorry.” Wilford rubbed the back of his head and stepped over to Yancy. “I didn’t know you wouldn’t get it, that’s my bad. If you want you can slap me back and-” Wilford didn’t get to finish before Yancy slapped him across the face. “Hot damn!” Wilford cursed and Dark had to put a hand over his mouth to prevent himself from laughing, a snort escaping anyways. 

“I think he meant his ass,” Illinois said while Yancy shook his stinging hand. 

“Oh, my bad.” Yancy chuckled. “I can do that too.” 

“I don’t think my ass could handle it.” Wilford let out a loud laugh, holding his face with a hand. “He’s a strong one. It’s a good thing we made the bedrooms soundproof or we’d be in for an earful.” 

“An earful of-” Yancy stopped when it clicked what Wilford had been referring too. Yancy just yelped and went red-faced while Illinois chuckled. 

“That was just you and your buddy last night,” Illinois said. 

“His ‘buddy’?” All the humor in Dark’s face dropped at that. “Let me guess, they had a thick black mustache.” 

“Should I not have said that?” Illinois did not like the shift in tone. 

“Wilford. My office. Now.” Dark was gone in a blink. 

“I didn’t-”

“It’s fine, my boy,” Wilford said, cutting Illinois off. “I got this.” Wilford was now gone as well. 

“What do you think’s going on?” Illinois asked Yancy. 

“No idea. But I know we can find out.” Yancy grinned and took Illinois hand and rushed out of the kitchen, heading down the bedroom hallway and stopping in front of a door that was labeled ‘Dark’s Office’. 

“The rooms are soundproof, we’re not going to hear anything,” Illinois whispered despite what he thought. 

“The bedrooms are.” Yancy chuckled and pressed his ear to the door. Illinois felt a little rush in his chest at that and joined Yancy, listening in. 

“I’ve told you that you can’t bring him here.” Dark’s voice was harsh, angry. “They can’t know what’s happening here.” 

“They? Really, Dark?” Wilford scoffed. “The Septiceyes aren’t any different than us.” 

“Septiceyes?” Yancy whispered his question. 

“Must be the others Wilford had mentioned,” Illinois whispered back. 

“We don’t know a lot about them. What’s to say they’re not lying and working with  _ him. _ ” Dark spat out the last word. 

“They’re not lying.” Wilford’s voice lost its chipper tone. 

“How do you know? There’ isn’t anything he won’t do.”

“He has nothing to do with the Septiceyes. They have never once shown any relation to him at all.”

“Not that we’ve seen.” 

“There’s nothing to see. They’re just like us but made from a different source.”

“They could be lying about that.” 

“They’re not lying!” Wilford raised his voice.

“How do you know!?” Dark raised his voice back.

“Because JJ loves me!” There was a loud bang followed by a painfully long pause. 

Yancy was dying to see something, anything from the argument. He went down to his knees and peeked under the door, the gap being just big enough for him to see feet and a little bit of leg. Yancy could tell that the pair behind the desk belonged to Dark since they were a pair of black dress shoes and the other was Wilford due to their being no shoes and the gray sweatpants being a dead giveaway. They looked to be standing. Eventually, Dark sat down in a chair and turned around. Wilford stepped closer to the desk and appeared to be leaning. 

“Because JJ loves me,” Wilford repeated, his voice much softer. “And I love him.” There was another pause. “Edward loves Henrik and Henrik loves Edward.” Yancy and Illinois didn’t recognize the names, but they could assume one was a Septiceye and one was not. “And just because you won’t accept your feelings for a Septiceye doesn’t mean that we will.” 

“Wilford-”

“Don’t ‘Wilford’ me. You know I’m not wrong. You know you’re running from your feelings again and I’m tired of seeing you do that. I’m tired of seeing my best friend afraid of caring for someone. You like him, you do. Stop being a coward and do something about it because I’m not going to deny myself one of the best things to happen in my life because you think you should. You deserve better. Stop lying to yourself.” 

“You can leave,” Dark said, voice void of emotion.

“JJ promised not to tell the other Septiceyes about the new guys. They won’t know until you tell them or they find out themselves.” Wilford was gone. 

“Shit.” Illinois cursed when Wilford was now behind him and Yancy. Yancy quickly scrambled up to his feet. 

“We-We were-uh-” Yancy was trying to find an excuse and Illinois was ready to grab Yancy and run. They both weren’t ready for Wilford to smile as if he wasn’t just in an argument. 

“Let’s go meet the other Ipliers.” 


	4. The Ipliers

Yancy and Illinois followed Wilford into the kitchen; seeing that two men were now in there and were both waiting for the Keruig to finish. One was wearing a black tank top and bright orange sunglasses while the other wore a blue shirt and regular sunglasses. The thing that stood out the most about them, were the glowing letters on the corners of their chests. 

“What if we just called in sick today?” The one with orange asked with a giggle. 

“We don’t get sick.” The one with blue stated.

“I mean,” The orange one moved close to the other, placing a hand on his chest. “I wouldn’t mind if  _ something  _ got in my throat.” 

“I think I can-”

“Good morning, you lovebirds!” Wilford greeted, laughing when the two jumped away from each other. Wilford went between them and laid his arms across their shoulders, turning them towards Illinois and Yancy. “Sorry for ruining your little moment but I figured you’d want to introduce yourselves to our newbies.” 

“Oh! Newbies!” The one with orange perked up and slipped away from Wilford and went up to Illinois and Yancy. “Sup, dudes!? I’m Bing.” 

“And I’m Google.” The blue one pushed Wilford’s arm off of him and he joined Bing, holding a hand out.

“Illinois.” Illinois took Google’s hand and shook it. 

“Yous must be all techy and stuff to have those nicknames,” Yancy commented to Bing. 

“They’re not nicknames, they’re our actual names,” Bing said.

“I guess that’s not too shocking,” Yancy shrugged. “Yous main guy’s named Dark so bein named after search engines ain’t that weird.” 

“We are the search engines,” Google said.

“You’re  _ the  _ search engines?” Illinois asked while Yancy just raised his brows.

“We’re the physical forms of Bing and Google.” Google continued. “We’re mostly referred to as androids due to the majority of our bodies being made out of mechanical components and-”

“You’re gonna burst their brains, Googs.” Bing giggled. “It’s a bunch of complicated sciencey stuff with a little bit of magic.” 

“Is there anything here without magic?” Yancy asked with a scoff. 

“No.” Bing and Google answered together. 

“Fun,” Yancy muttered, crossing his arms. He turned when he heard what sounded like several people running and was not ready for a pair of twins to rush into the room. One of them was carrying a microphone and the other had a camera on his shoulder. They were a good bit shorter than Yancy but looked shorter to them being in almost a full crouch, looking as if they were always ready to dive and head at a moment’s notice. 

“You must be the new ones.” The twin with the microphone said. “Tell us, how do you feel?” Yancy had to move his head back to prevent his mouth from being hit with the microphone. 

“Now, you two, did Dark say you were allowed to interview them?” Wilford asked, going over to the twin with the camera and adjusting the camera so it was on the shoulder at a better angle to prevent pain. 

“We...may not have asked yet.” The twin with the microphone moved said microphone away from Yancy and slumped with a pout. 

“Dark’s being a grouch right now, go cheer him up before asking him for stuff.” Wilford used his hand to fix the twin with the microphone’s hair. 

“Okay!” The twin shouted with the other nodded before they both took off. 

“Not exactly how I planned on you meeting them, but it works,” Wilford said with a chuckle. 

“When you say Dark's being a grouch…” Bing gestured with his hand for Wilford to finish his sentence. 

“I basically pissed him off,” Wilford said casually. 

“And that’s a no on calling in.” Google grabbed the coffee mug that was under the Keruig and Bing was pouting as they left the kitchen. 

“You guys have kids here?” Illinois asked, looking towards where the twins had gone. He had been looking since they left, trying to figure out whose they could be.

“Please call them that when you see Dark!” Wilford laughed. “Please,  _ please  _ call them his kids too, while you’re at it.” 

“Are they not kids? They looks like ‘em.” Yancy said. 

“Or is this another ‘too complicated to explain’ situations?” Illinois asked with a huff. 

“You got it.” Wilford snapped his fingers and pointed them at Illinois. 

“I’m going to keep a list of ‘can’t explain’ things so I know how much I don’t know.” Illinois had his hands on his hips. “It’ll be longer than the things I do know.” 

“That’s how it is around here.” Wilford tucked his hands into his sweatpants pockets. “You can add that their names are CJ and RJ to your list. The one who had the microphone is RJ and the cameraman is CJ.”

“I’m going to guess that’s those aren’t nicknames as well.” Yancy chuckled. 

“Oh, they are. RJ is for Reporter Jim and CJ is Cameraman Jim.” Wilford said. 

“They’re both named Jim? And they’re twins?” Illinois rubbed his forehead. “Why does this not shock me?” 

“I got one more person to show you two before I go get dressed. He’s usually in the library.” Wilford started walking and Yancy and Illinois followed once more. 

“So we have Wilford and Dark.” Yancy started counting off with his fingers. “Google and Bing, CJ, and RJ and then who we’re about to meet.” 

“And then there’s the…” Illinois lowered his voice. “Others.”

“I know you two heard me and Dark, you can call them the Septiceyes,” Wilford said. Illinois and Yancy both scrunched up in embarrassment and stayed quiet until Wilford stopped in front of a door. 

“And right here we have the Iplier Library. More books than anyone can read in all genres and types.” Wilford opened the door and stepped in, Illinois going in next and Yancy sticking close behind. 

“Shit.” Yancy couldn’t stop the curse from slipping as he saw the large library. “This is-” Yancy went silent when he saw a man sitting on one of the plush chairs. Something about him felt off. It wasn’t just the trench coat and bloody cloth across his eyes. He just felt...there wasn’t one word to explain it, to describe the feeling the man put off. 

“Say hello to Host.” Wilford bowed a little as he gestured towards the man. 


	5. The Host

“Do we-”

“Host is aware of Yancy, Illinois, and Wilford standing at the door.” The man in the chair stated, cutting Illinois off. The man’s face was staying down towards a book in his lap that he was running a hand across. “He chooses to finish reading the page he is currently on before closing it and addressing them properly.” 

“What?” Yancy didn’t mean to speak but it came out regardless as The man, Host, did what he spoke, closing the book and turning his head towards them. 

“Host is also aware of the confusion that Yancy and Illinois are feeling. He understands that it is difficult to have one’s life turned, in quite a literal sense, upside down. Host stands and makes his way over to the new member of the Iplier Manor.” 

“Y-Yeah.” Yancy didn’t want to come across as rude, but his stomach was starting to hurt. 

“I guess there isn’t much of a reason for us to introduce ourselves.” Illinois chuckled. 

“Host is willing to explain to the best of his abilities what all is happening but he is unsure of when to do so with Dark’s instructions.” 

“What are his instructions?” Illinois asked.

“Host regretfully says that one of the instructions is to not explain them. Dark wishes for certain information to be given by himself and not by the others.” 

“Great.” Illinois sighed

“Host would like to say more, but he’s more worried about the clear discomfort that Yancy is displaying.” 

“Yanc?” Illinois looked over at Yancy, who was having a hard time looking at anything else but the floor. 

“Sorry.” Yancy awkwardly rubbed his arm. “I’m not trying to...I just....”

“Host understands that as well and wishes he could say what is needed, but is unable to do so.” 

“What? Is it another Dark thing?”

“Oh! Who’s it gonna be? Is it me?” Wilford brushed past Illinois’ question. 

“Google.” Host stated, the one-worded answer actually sounding odd to Illinois. 

“Before or after Bim and Yandere get back?” 

“Before.”

“Who’s Bim and Yandere?” Illinois asked. 

“They’re out on a mission, they’ll be back tonight.” Wilford waved a casual hand

“I don’t feel good.” Yancy suddenly turned and took off. 

“Yanc!” Illinois immediately went after him. 

Yancy rushed to the closest room with a drain, the kitchen, and rushed to the sink, dipping his head down and losing what little food he had been able to eat. Illinois was right behind him and could only whisper that everything was okay and rub Yancy’s back. 

“Still struggling I see.” Google’s voice was sudden and Illinois looked up to see him watching Yancy. 

“What was your first clue?” Illinois snapped, half-covering Yancy’s body with his own when he heard Yancy sniff. 

“He spent the majority of his life in prison, correct?” Google’s question had the feeling that he already knew the answer, so Illinois didn’t respond. “Prisons are known for their set routines for their prisoners. You get up at a certain time, you eat at certain times, you bathe at certain times and you go to bed at a certain time. It’s almost the same exact thing every single day with little variations to prevent violent boredom.” 

“Okay, and?” 

“He needs a routine, a schedule,” Google stated. “Get him up at the same time every day, eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the same time. He works out, set up a routine with that. His files indicate that change affects his mind and body severely if he’s not the one in control or at least aware of the change occurring.” 

“We’re fine.” 

“Listen, he needs-”

“Quit talking ‘bout me like I ain’t here!” Yancy snapped his head out of the sink and went over to Google, jabbing a finger into his chest. “Yous ain’t gonna tell me what I need. What I need is to get the fuck out of this fucking nightmare of a ‘Manor’.” Yancy stopped jabbing to use his fingers to make air quotes. “But no, we ain’t allowed to leave or know anything about what the fuck is going on because Dark’s got a pan or somethin’ and all of this is just ridiculous!” Yancy slammed a fist against the counter before storming out of the room, letting out a shout as soon as he was gone. 

“I’m just trying to help,” Google said with a scoff. 

“Then let us leave,” Illinois said. Google pressed his lips together and looked away. “Of course, claim to be helpful and then shut down when we actually tell you what we need.” Illinois shook his head and walked out of the room as well, finding Yancy sitting in the hallway, tucked into a tight ball, hugging his legs and waiting next to Illinois’ room’s door. 

“Didn’t wanna go in without permission,” Yancy said softly. 

“You’re always allowed in, no need to ask.” Illinois gave a little smile as he opened the door, waiting for Yancy to get up and go into the room first. Yancy went to the bed and sat on the end of it, bending over and rubbing the sides of his head with his fingers. Illinois went to the bed as well, plopping down on his back, tucking his hands behind his head, and just waiting to see what happens next. 

“Maybe...maybe he’s right,” Yancy spoke after a long pause. “Maybe I need a schedule or somethin.” 

“Maybe.” Illinois sat up. 

“When he said my file, what do you think he meant by that?” Yancy lowered his hands.

“I think that they have been watching us like you said before, but not in here. Not in the room. Outside of here...back home.” Illinois decided to be blunt and honest with his thoughts. “They’ve been watching us for a long time, taking notes, studying us, and made files with everything they know about us. I don’t know why, but they are.” 

“Hopefully they’ll let us know eventually.” Yancy sighed. “I just wanna know what’s going on and why.” 

“Agreed.” 

“There’s a gym,” Yancy stated as he stood. “I’m going to go change and work out.” 

“Want me to come with you?” 

“Nah. I need some alone time. I’m going to just forget the world for a while.” 

“Okay.”


	6. Another New Face

Yancy felt weird in the clothing he wore. They were the same ones from his and Illinois’ exploration but they didn’t feel right on his body right now. They felt...restrictive. His chest ached, his mind raced and nothing felt okay. He felt like he was going to be sick again but pushed through with the engraved thought of ‘get a routine’ playing on repeat. If Google was right about this, then he’ll be fine. Everything will be fine. 

“Nice.” Yancy ended up saying out loud when he finally reached the gym. There was equipment as far as he could see, a lot of them he didn’t even know what they were or a single guess on how to use them. It was comforting. 

“Well, I wasn’t expecting to see anyone else here at this time.” A man said as he stepped out from behind some weights. He has the same look as the other Ipliers but with a charming smile on his lips and the presence of someone with a lot of pride. Something Yancy knew very well.

“Oh, yous must be Bim or Yandere.” Yancy greeted and stuck a hand out. 

“Wrong on both accounts.” The man chuckled, using a hand to adjust his hair before taking Yancy’s hand with his own and giving it a strong shake. “Name’s King.” 

“King? They never mentioned yous.” Yancy tilted his head and watched as the man took his hand back and kept a smile as he spoke.

“They always forget about me.” King clicked his tongue. “You’d think I’d be unforgettable.” He added with a wink. 

“Yous reminds me of a close fella of mine,” Yancy said with a little laugh. “He’s all flirty like yous.” 

“Oh? You think I’m flirting? I’m flattered.” King shimmied a little 

“N-no, I-I mean.” Yancy stammered over his words. “He’s-He’s all...He’s all like fun but not...uh…”

“I’m just teasing, don’t worry.” King patted Yancy on the back. “I’m sure your boyfriend’s a-”

“He’s not my...boyfriend...I-I think.” 

“You think? You don’t know?” King raised an eyebrow. “How do you not know if you’re dating him?” 

“It’s...complicated.” 

“That’s a way too common word in this place.”

“Yous telling me,” Yancy muttered. There was an awkward pause in the air before King cleared his throat.

“I’m sure you didn’t come to the gym to just gossip, how about we go get started? I can show you around real quick if you want.” 

“Sure, I don’t know what half of this stuff is.” Yancy was laughing once more and he followed King as he started to walk. 

“How is that possible? You’re way too buff to now know machines.” 

“Where I come from only has so much.” 

“Well, I’ll be sure to spoil you with knowledge.” 

x~x~x

“Illinois returns to the library.” Host stated from the bookshelf he stood in front of, a hand trailing along the spines of the books. 

“Yeah, Yancy’s working out and I can’t just sit around in the room alone,” Illinois said, making his way over to where Host is. 

“Illinois returned to Host in the belief that he would be the one to answer his questions or at least will to the best of his abilities. Host doesn’t come across as the kind to lie, he’s just restricted for reasons unknown to him.” 

“How do you do that?” Illinois asked, not looking at Host and trying to note what kinds of books the Host was drawn to. 

“Host asks for a clarification to the question.” 

“How do you say what’s happening in my head and around us like that? You sound like you wrote the world or like you’re the author of our lives or something.” Illinois was unaware of Host stiffening. Illinois moved away from the shelf, going to look at one of the other ones to see just how much variety is in the collection. “The way you talk and how you’re able to…‘see’, it’s supernatural, right?” 

“Host can understand how it could be perceived as that and believes that to be the best word for it.” Host said. 

“Dark has supernatural abilities as well, right? And Wilford?” 

“Host decides it would be easier to say that everyone here has abilities. Some being very limited and others spanning beyond understanding.” 

“Then why are me and Yancy here?” Illinois found a section of books with lettering on them that didn’t come across as any language he could recognize. “We’re not like you guys.” 

“Host only repeats what was said before. That  _ everyone  _ here has abilities.” That pulled Illinois’ attention away from the books.

“What does that mean?” 

“Host is unable to say more about that.” Host made a face that said he didn’t like that he couldn’t keep going. 

“What’s stopping you? You’ve been talking plenty to me, why not about that?” 

“Host can’t explain how the restrictions work.” 

“For fuck-” Illinois huffed and went back to Host, slipping himself between Host and the shelf. “You can’t talk, but you can move your head,” Illinois said. “Do me and Yancy have supernatural abilities that we are unaware of?” 

“Host understands that Illinois wishes to understand everything in order to keep his boy-” Host suddenly stopped, mouth clamping shut, and the scrunching of his face showed that it hurt. “Illinois and Yancy are not boyfriends?” The statement came out as a question. “Host is now lacking understanding at how that’s wrong.” 

“That’s not what we’re talking about.” Illinois watched as Host turned away and made his way to the chair he had been sitting on the first time they met. “Host. Host!” Illinois walked over and Host just sat down, facing straight ahead. “We’re not don’t talking. Why are me and Yancy here?” Illinois waited for a response and got none. “Host! Host!” Illinois was now shouting was Host just sat there. No words, no movement, his chest just barely moved as he took shallow breathes. “Host!” 

“The King has returned.” Host spoke in a voice that stung Illinois’ ears. 

“What!?” Illinois scrubbed his ears with his palms. “What does that mean!?” 

“Illinois. Leave him be.” Dark spoke from the door. 

“Leave him be? He implies me and Yancy don’t know things about ourselves, ignores me, and is now saying ‘the king has returned’ like he’s Rafiki from the fucking _ Lion King _ .” Illinois leaned over and started snapping his fingers in front of Host’s face. “Host!? Hello!?” Illinois’s wrist was suddenly grabbed and he was yanked away from Host. He found himself face-to-face with Dark and his arm was held up in the air by him. 

“We do not do that,” Dark spoke between gritted teeth. 

“Maybe if someone actually spoke to us, we’d know what not to do,” Illinois said flatly. There was a moment as Dark studied Illinois’ face before releasing him. 

“Host needs to be left alone, he needs to rest,” Dark stated and turned on his heel, heading out of the room. 

“Dark,” Illinois said, getting Dark to stop where he was. “Why are me and Yancy here?” Dark had no reaction “You do know I’m not going to stop till I get answers, right?” No reaction again. “I’ll figure it out.” 

“I know.” Was all Dark said before he continued on. 


	7. Anti-Party

“Yous look pissed,” Yancy commented when he came into the room after his workout, finding Illinois, face-down on the bed. 

“Annoyed.” Illinois corrected with a muffled voice. 

“They has punching bags in the gym if yous wanna beat it out,” Yancy suggested. 

“I might do that.” Illinois chuckled and rolled over to his back. “I’m guessing the workout helped?” 

“It was nice to do somethin’ familiar. I actually met-”

“You’re being the stick that’s up your ass.” Someone loudly laughed from outside the door. 

“Requesting that you at least give a warning before appearing here doesn’t make me a stick.” Dark’s voice followed.

“I’m just here to see Wilford and JJ.”

“You’re here to annoy me, Anti.” 

“Anti?” Illinois perked up and then he smirked. 

“A Septiceye maybe? Or another-” Yancy stopped himself when Illinois rushed over to the door and opened it. 

“Hello there~” Yancy heard the voice giggle and he made his way over as well, peeking out and seeing a green-haired, spikey ears and teeth, man standing next to Dark. “There’s two more?” The man turned to Dark and placed his hands on his hips. “You have two new people and you never told us?” 

“I was letting them adjust first before throwing more at them,” Dark spoke with gritted teeth, clearly trying to keep his tone even. 

“Are yous Anti?” Yancy asked. 

“Oh, so they know of me but I don’t know of them?” 

“We heard your name when Wilford and Dark were fighting.” Illinois had a cheerful smile as he spoke, lying like it was second nature. “It was something about comparing you two to Wilford and JJ.” Illinois saw the shift in Dark’s face and how Anti’s eyes went wide for a second. “Oh? Did I say too much?” Illinois poked a finger to his cheek and Yancy had to put a hand over his own mouth to stifle a laugh, catching on to what Illinois was doing. 

“Wow.” Anti popped his lips and took out a phone. “Phan, get the booze and get the boys. We have some newbies.” Anti said before he was suddenly gone, a strange green fuzz left in the air where he had been. 

“Great.” Dark rubbed his forehead. “Looks like we’ll be having company tonight.” 

“Exciting.” Illinois continued his smile as Dark glared at him. 

“I looks forward to it.” Yancy was smiling as well and Dark just grunted before walking between them and down the hall. 

x~x~x

Yancy looked around the large room, seeing the circular counter in the middle with lines and lines of bottles of alcohol on it. A little ‘stage’ on the very far right and a collection of chairs surrounding it. Music blared from speakers on the ceilings and lights of different colors flashed to the beat. Yancy glanced down at the red cup in his hand, the bright pink drink telling him to have more. 

“This is not what I was expecting.” Illinois’ voice grounded Yancy back to the present. “I mean, with how stiff so many of them are, I’m shocked they have this room.” 

“I’m thinking some of the Septiceyes are the reason.” Yancy gestured towards when Wilford was with JJ and Edward was with one of the other green-haired strangers. They haven’t been able to formally meet the others yet, all of them too distracted by the idea of a party. 

“And I’m thinking Anti’s the reason why Dark’s allowed it.” Illinois grinned and sipped from his own drink as he watched Dark leaning against the circular counter and Anti was sitting on it next to him, a big smirk on his face as he spoke. 

“He doesn’t trust them but lets them make a party room?” Yancy shook his head and took another drink. 

“Love is complicated~” Illinois sang, looking down at his own drink when he said that. Wilford must have made him something a lot stronger than he was expecting. “We should go say hi to the strangers. We might as well at least get names.” Illinois took a few steps towards a trio that was talking to each other, two of them looking very similar and the third being drastically different from everyone else.

“Baby steps,” Yancy said to himself and took yet another drink, needing a refill soon. 

“You must be the newbies.” One of the three greeted. “And you’re both pretty hot.” He added with a chuckle. 

“That’s the most forward you’ve been.” The one that looked just like him commented. 

“I can be much more forward.” 

“Please, don’t.” The third one sighed. 

“Illinois.” Illinois flashed a smile. 

“Phantom.” The first one smiled back and glanced over at the third one, his smile dropping when he shook his head. “Really?” Phantom huffed. “Why is everyone partnered off?” 

“What?” Yancy asked. “Did we miss somethin?” Yancy was ignored as Phantom looked out into the crowd. “Wait...not everyone is partnered off.” Phantom giggled after laying his eyes on a new green-haired stranger. “Real quick, what’s your name?” Phantom pointed at Yancy. 

“Uh...Yancy.” 

“Cool. Nice to meet ya. I’m going to go play.” Phantom winked before heading out, going right up to the man he saw. He went in front of him and wrapped his arms around his neck, pulling him in close and swaying to the music.

“I don’t think we were meant to see that,” Yancy said. 

“We were.” The second one said. “My name’s Mare,” He added as Phantom looked over at them and perked up a lot when the third one nodded his head this time. Phantom grabbed the stranger’s face and pulled him into a kiss. 

“Now I’m sure we weren’t supposed to see that.” Yancy turned away and used a hand to shield his eyes. 

“Mad was supposed to, at least,” Mare said. “He just adores being Phantom’s ‘hook-up radar’.” 

“No, I don’t.” The third one, Mad, grumbled. 

“Care to catch us up on what’s happening?” Illinois asked. 

“To put it in the easiest terms to understand, I feel emotions,” Mad said. “And by that I mean I know what others are feeling. Phantom was checking to see if there was any sense of attraction or arousal when you spoke to him.” 

“So that means the other guy did.” Illinois hummed, looking at Phantom again and seeing that the one he’s gone up to was bright red in the face. 

“Jackie,” Mad said. “He’s got super strength and speed.” 

“He’s a good guy,” Mare added. “Or at least, he better be to Phantom or...well…” Mare let that trail off.

“What about yous?” Yancy asked. “If he feels feelings and Jackie’s Superman, what yous and Phantom got?” 

“How much do you know about Dark? Power-wise?” Mare asked.

“Not much,” Illinois said. 

“Well, the more you learn about him the more you’ll learn about me and my brother,” Mare said.

“Brother.” Illinois hummed, understanding Mare’s previous comment about Jackie.

“Could yous be vaguer?” Yancy scoffed.

“I think he’d have to not-” Mad stopped when Mare placed a hand on the center of his back. 

“Phantom said partnered off, what did he mean by that?” Illinois asked, changing the subject. 

“Most of us are in a relationship,” Mare said, sipping from his own cup. 

“Who?” 

“Here’s the tea.” Mad saying that made Mare choke on his drink. “What? Did I say it wrong?”

“No, no, I just-” Mare coughed into the crook of his arm. “I wasn’t ready for you to say that.” 

“Phantom said that it means ‘here’s the information’ and it’s commonly associated with gossip and relationship talk is usually gossip,” Mad spoke quickly. 

“You’re right, you’re right.” Mare chuckled. “Now, for the pairs. We got-” Mare pointed as he spoke. “The doctors, Edward and Henrik.” Edward was leaning against the one named Henrik and they were both flushed in the face and laughing. “The ‘droids, Bing and Google.” Bing was singing along to the music and dancing with Google. Google, on the other hand, has earplugs in but still looked happy. “The ‘staches, Wilford and JJ.” Wilford had JJ in his arms and in the air as he spun around. “The parents, Chase and Marvin.” The two, Chase and Marvin, were getting handsy with each other on the ‘dance floor’. “Then there’s the undecided, Anti and Dark.” 

“They’re not together and from what I’ve been hearing, Dark’s fighting it,” Illinois said. 

“Oh yeah, big time.” Mare handed Mad his cup and Mad drank from it, finishing it off. “But if they keep up their drinking, they’re in for a night.” Mare moved his arm so it was wrapped around Mad’s waist. “And it looks like most of us are in for a fun night.” 

“Mare.” Mad lightly slapped at Mare’s chest but suddenly went stiff and looked at Yancy and Illinois, brows scrunching in confusion. 

“I’m guessing you and Mad are one of the couples as well?” Illinois asked, not noticing Mad’s facial expression. “Any fancy nickname?” 

“Can’t give yourself a nickname, you’ll have to ask one of the others,” Mare said.

“There you are!” A young woman rushed over to Yancy and Illinois with a young man at her side. “We finally get to meet you, I’m Yandere.” She stuck her hand out and was bouncing. “Oh! And this is Bim.” 

“Hello.” Bim awkwardly waved. 

“The teens,” Mare said. 

“Phantom wasn’t joking when he said everyone was partnered off.” Illinois chuckled. “Pleasure to meet you.” Illinois’ took Yandere’s offered hand and shook it. 

“You must be Illinois,” Bim stated. “Dark’s report said you were the more talkative one.” 

“Yous saying I don’t talk?” Yancy asked, crossing his arms. 

“No, no, no!” Bim squeaked and moved away from Yancy. “I was-I was just going off of-I-I-”

“Aw, you scared the poor guy.” Illinois’ laugh got Yancy to as well and uncross his arms. 

“That part of the report was right too.” Yandere said to Bim, voice softer but still overheard. 

“What part?” Illinois asked. 

“Oh! I love this song! Bye!” Yandere grabbed Bim’s hand and the two took off. 

“I’m gonna start bashing heads together if no one gives us a straight answer.” Yancy groaned. 

“Nothing straight to be had here~” Mare sang.

“Looks like we’re not going to get anything else tonight,” Illinois said. “Let’s go have some fun, Yanc.” Illinois looped his arm through Yancy’s. 

“How much?” Yancy let himself be lead away. 

“Let’s forget this night.” 

“Mare.” Mad watched as the two went off.

“Something’s off, isn’t it?” Mare asked, trying to take a drink and pouting when he found it empty. 

“I need to study them.”

“I’ll let Dark know.” 


End file.
